1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to collators for sheets of paper and the like, and more particularly to a deflector mechanism for a sheet collating device for feeding sheets from a conveyor tape into a plurality of spaced apart bins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sheet collating devices are commonly used to convey sheets of planar material such as paper, microfiche film and the like to a plurality of bins in a predetermined order. One variety of collating device in use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,254 issued to Snellman, et al. The Snellman, et al collator utilizes a continuous loop of flexible tape to convey the sheet downwardly along a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally disposed bins. A curved deflector is positioned between the tapes to remove individual sheets from the tape and deflect them into an adjacent bin. In operation the deflector is stepped through a plurality of indexed positions opposite respective bins so that sequentially received sheets are placed in sequentially positioned bins. Sliding contact between the sheet and the curved deflector exists in operation of the Snellman et al device. In most applications this sliding contact does not present a problem; however, with certain types of sheet materials such as film, which are very easily scratched, sliding contact between the sheet and deflector is avoided if possible. In operation of the Snellman et al device the deflector path can only be varied by replacing the deflector with one having a different radius of curvature, whereas with the deflector mechanism disclosed herein the angle of the deflection path of the sheet can be easily varied to vary the angle of the deflection path.
Another type of sheet collating device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,328,317 issued to Wentworth. The Wentworth device conveys the sheet to a movable distributor by placing the sheet between a top conveyor cord 31 and a pair of bottom conveying cords 14. When the cords reach the distributor, the lower conveyor cords 14 are immediately bent downwardly while the upper cord 31 runs along the upper periphery of two spaced-apart rollers and along the under periphery of a third roller. Consequently, the sheet is effectively released from its position between the cords just beyond the first roller of the distributor and it is only supported between the remaining rollers and the upper conveyor cord during the remainder of its travel. It is released from the upper conveyor cord at some point between the second and third rollers.